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Announcements
TDN's Sandbox, Player Impact, and Path Forward Hi TDN Community! We wanted to take a moment and address a few matters that have been discussed lately amongst the Dev/QM/DM team and ensure we maintain a spirit of transparency with our approach, what is in the future, and some self-reflecting that's been going on as it relates to our approach to TDN over the first 3.5 months since launch: First, we recognize that we've had a couple of particularly quiet weeks. While populations tend to fluctuate, we understand that the current lull is the product of a few things we've seen ourselves and been made aware of by players that brought things to our attention: * Our level cap system means that progress feels halted once a player has hit it. * Faction-Implementation, while well-received, has had a shadow-attribute of the DM team emphasizing events geared towards factions which has lowered the number of world events (or non-faction events). * Conflict in-game has been barren to say the least. * Setting-impact by players doesn't really exist at this point, and the Dev teams at times can make it appear that PCs are 'too low level' to have a lasting impact or influence significant decisions. * Engaging systems for "Non-DM Times" are few in number. Ultimately, we want to make TDN a lasting place that has something for everyone, and we want to demonstrate as a staff and Development team that we listen and respond to player concerns and frustrations. This message is to clarify that we've heard those challenges and will be working aggressively and immediately to address them. Now, our commitments moving forward: * Better support for villains. Not only do we plan to help inspire and enable their goals, we've a few other strategies for how to keep players a breathing part of the world's dangers and intrigue. * More non-linear events that have an impact. We want to provide the opportunity for character choices to have a true impact, and this means we have to proactively design our events to better engage players. * A better sense of player agency. While TDN is set in an existing and heavily modified setting, we always intended for PCs to feel like they could influence it. We will be aiming to let player decisions guide much of our plot, as opposed to simply having players along for the ride. * A shift in Systems Development to heavily focus on the creation and implementation of systems that are specifically designed to keep people engaged, logging in, and working towards their next goal. We highly encourage players to submit DM requests using the Discord ticket process, and provide context for character objectives and focuses. A few possible examples of things we are aiming to be open to (within reason): * A PC who enjoys gardening has found an area on the server they find beautiful and they want to cultivate some of the surrounding area. * A PC who has found spot on the server on the side of a mountain that is hidden from view, and wants to pay (a significant sum) to employ some Dwarves to mine/carve out a Cave entrance. * A PC who wants to learn more about, and potentially meet with local government/authorities to offer support. * A PC who wants to assassinate an NPC. * And more! Submit your requests for review and we'll talk through potential solutions and what is possible. As a general note, there are consequences to every action. So a failed assassination attempt on an NPC could be a very bad thing for the one enacting that effort. Admin Note: TDN was founded and created on the principle that players are the true leaders and operators of the narrative. DM Events/Campaigns should be the presentation of a problem, and the rest is up to players to respond, react, and move forward while the DM provides realistic and reasonable responses to those decisions. As a team, we can, and will do better around this element of the setting and gameplay in general. We've had one player step forward to help support from a scripting standpoint (Shout out to Inf!), and it's been great to see that support. I've been slow to respond with some requests, and potentially missed out on some excellent help in the past due to the response time. While unfortunate, it was a learning for me to ensure that there is direction given and we work to embrace people who are just trying to help support and contribute to the server. My personal apologies to anyone who reached out with great intentions, and I didn't respond timely. If you're interested in contributing and working on TDN in any capacity, please reach out and we can chat. To take it a step further, all are welcome to send feedback and suggestions directly to me on Discord and I will work through them and take notes on the opinions to increase player engagement. Our community is still strong, and I know many are waiting for things to either improve or the level cap to increase. Everyone has my commitment that we will continue to work to move TDN in a direction that is appealing to everyone without losing the spirit of the setting and flavor of our take on Faerun. - Aschent Lastly, we want to thank our community for being patient with us while we work through bugs, coding challenges, the need for more content, and more. We couldn't ask for a more supportive group of individuals playing on the server and encourage ongoing feedback as the server continues to grow, mature, and change. We've learned a ton over the past few months, and we're confident, and committed to creating a phenomenal PW that is worthy of the time you all spend here. Thank you, - TDN Development Team Archived Announcements Below... The Dragon's Neck Roadmap Hi Everyone! With the Holidays in full swing, I figured it would be good to take a moment and give everyone an update on TDN and how things are progressing: Obviously, the Holidays are a time of year that playerbases tend to take a small dip. This is a typical trend as the vast majority of the community, regardless of timezone, has some kind of impact due to holidays. This is true for the Dev team as well. You've likely noticed that the pace of patch notes have slowed slightly, this is attributed purely to the Holiday season (which is my busiest time of year for work). Beginning in January, the volume of updates should kick back up and the rate of DM events should also increase slightly. That all being said, let's talk about what's happened thus far: * Unique Logins since Launch: 318 * Highest Concurrent Playercount: 55 (First Tournament Event) * Player Applications: 141 * QM/DM Events: 85 When it comes to what is ahead for TDN, there are many things to look forward to: * Ongoing bug fixes for problematic systems: We understand there are still things to clean-up and are committed to ensuring that this current experience is a proper as possible before we roll out our first expansion. We appreciate the patience shown by the community while we address any outstanding issues. * Brost (Planned for Q1 2020): The first major Expansion for The Dragon's Neck will feature the town of Brost. If your PC is a fan of nature and frontier-esque villages, Brost will be a great spot to spend your time. Some details on what's included: ** Level Cap Increase!: Adventurers will now be able to reach level 8. ** Caravan System: Our current Caravan System works by immediately transporting players to their destination. While convenient, it does not properly represent the amount of distance between the two locations in most cases. The new system will feature a timed caravan that will arrive to towns and allow players to "load" into the caravan before it departs again. Transit times to destination locations will vary, however they will be quicker than running/walking. ** Enhanced Fugue Plane: We'll keep the details on this one under wraps. ** 100+ Overland Areas: Adventurers will find more beautiful areas to explore, or die in, depending on your preference. ** 15+ Dungeons: Tuned for a variety of levels, even scaling up to level 8. * Mosstone (Planned for Q2 2020): While not a major expansion, this journey South into Tethyr will feature the Druidic town of Mosstone. One of our focal points of the server ** 50+ Overland Areas. ** 10+ Dungeons: Tuned for Levels 2-6. * The Dragon's Neck & Head Peninsula (Planned for Q4 2020): A major Expansion for the server. ** The City of Velen. ** The City of Tulmene. ** 175+ Overland Areas. ** 45+ Dungeons. * Note: ** Q1 = January - March ** Q2 = April - June ** Q3 = July - September ** Q4 = October - December While we will do our best to hit self-imposed deadlines, we will modify and adjust based on what is in the best interest of the server itself. If you are concerned at all at the possibility of the playerbase splintering due to the increase in areas/towns/cities, do not worry. We have some systems conceptualized that will create a rotating "Hub" for the server that will shift every few days and give players a reason to spend some time in places other than the Trademeet campfire. If you're holding off investing time into the server, we highly recommend you jump in and spend some time learning the ropes and establishing your RP presence on TDN. There is a massive amount of content on the horizon (with many things not listed in this post, as we want to keep some surprises waiting.), and aside from that, there is a ton of storylines awaiting when it comes to Factions, Characters, Politics, and more! Thank you to everyone who Contributes and Plays on The Dragon's Neck. We appreciate you spending time with us and are eager to continue to provide you with some excellent Roleplay experiences now and into the future. Happy Holidays from The Dragon's Neck!